Naira Redesign: Tinubu denies asking governors to disregard Buhari

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, has denied asking governors to disregard President Muhammadu Buhari’s order that old N500 and N1000 cease to be legal tender in compliance with the policy of the CBN phasing them out.

Mr Buhari had in a broadcast on Thursday said only the old N200 note should be re-issued and used alongside other old notes until April 10 when it will stop being legal tender.

In what appears to be a counter-order, in a statewide broadcast, Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State had said the old notes will be in use in his state in accordance with the Supreme Court’s ruling pending the determination of the substantive suit before it.

Kano State governor, Umar Ganduje, has also criticised the federal government over the policy, saying it is an attempt to make the APC lose in the forthcoming general elections.

The Supreme Court will rule on 22 February on the matter brought before it by some state governments against the federal government and the CBN on the legality or otherwise of the continued use of the old notes N200, N500 and N1000 as legal tender

An online platform, Peoples Gazette, had in a publication claimed that Mr Tinubu asked APC governors to ignore Mr Buhari on the order.

Peoples Gazette’s publication is fake news – APC campaign councilA statement by the presidential campaign council of the APC issued on Friday said the publication was fake news.

The statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, spokesperson of the campaign council said Mr Tinubu never issued such an order.

Dele Alake, the APC-PCC adviser on media and communications, never issued such an advisory on behalf of Mr Tinubu, the statement said.

The statement said the message quoted by the online platform which was being randomly shared on WhatsApp was not authored by Mr Alake.

“Asiwaju Tinubu has been known, since the currency swap crisis started, to call for calm as the authorities try to find out a solution to the currency crisis. He has offered a six-point suggestion to lessen the anguish our people are facing in trying to get money from the banks”, a part of the statement said.

“He has also held several meetings with President Buhari, his leader over the matter.

“It is thus inconceivable and unthinkable that he would instruct APC governors to disregard President Muhammadu Buhari’s order on the currency matter,” the statement said.

The statement noted that the governors who have so far countered the president’s action said clearly that they were acting on the ruling of the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land.

“Asiwaju has had no influence in this decision.

“Journalists, unless acting on the dictates of political opponents or prosecuting some agenda, should endeavour to confirm authorship of their materials from the Media and Publicity Directorate of the campaign. They can also seek confirmation from the Tinubu Media Office or Mr Alake”, the statement said.

The campaign council asked the online platform to recant the story with immediate effect.